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Andre Tourigny wouldn’t mind seeing one of his defencemen put a player through the boards.

Yet Canada’s assistant coach, who runs the group of seven on head coach Steve Spott’s bench, knows that probably won’t happen at the 2013 World Junior Championship.

Tourigny likes his defenders, even taking into consideration they’re not a hit-hard-first, ask-questions-later bunch.

“If we could have a punisher, we would love that, but it’s not a concern,” Tourigny said after practice on Thursday. “I think we have a pretty good mix. I like the way we play defensively, and our guys are good in transition.”

A challenge for Canada going forward will be that its defencemen don’t get exposed. Expect that the U.S. on Sunday and Russia on Monday will give the defencemen all they can handle, especially below the hash marks.

But Spott knew coming into the tournament, as Canada tries to win its first gold since 2009, that the defencemen available weren’t going to run the opposition out of the building.

The forwards, led by the top line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins between Mark Scheifele and Jonathan Huberdeau, were going to be an offensive 13-man outfit, but they needed defencemen to get them the puck. If Canada gave up something in the physical department, the hope was that it moved the puck a lot faster from the back end.

Spott is all about puck possession, and if Canada has the puck more often than not, being physical isn’t as paramount. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be room to grow.

“We do need to have more bite in the defensive zone,” Spott said. “But when you look at the size of the ice surface we are playing on, you have to be able to shake off a defender and throw quick passes and activate into the rush. We feel we have the guys who can do that.”

Some observers have been clamouring to know who Canada’s shutdown pair will be, and returnees Scott Harrington and Dougie Hamilton appear to be emerging as that duo. But Spott would like to see it done by committee.

“When you look at the teams in the past, maybe you had two guys who were designated,” Spott said. “If Ryan Murray (who is injured) was here, it would be different. Ultimately, it is collectively as a group. Dougie is a versatile guy, and Scott is really the captain when it comes down to our shutdown group.”

For Harrington, who plays for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the 2011 NHL entry draft, the depth on the blue line should be enough to see it through. Of course, goaltender Malcolm Subban has to make the saves if there are breakdowns, which there will be.

There should be enough smarts among them to make adjustments to their respective games as the tournament progresses.

“It’s a talented bunch back there,” Harrington said. “What makes our group special is the ability to move the puck. But we also have to give the opposing forwards as little time as possible. Look at the U.S. and Russia — they can all skate.

“You can’t really switch anything on and off like a light switch. It’s important that we develop good habits and keep them throughout, be consistent.”

Wotherspoon, as defensively sound as any junior-aged defenceman in the Canadian Hockey League, knows what has to be accomplished.

“We want to close guys off more in the corners,” Wotherspoon said. “Not let forwards get cutbacks and that kind of stuff. But it’s not a concern.”

Team Canada’s defencemen put to the test

Andre Tourigny wouldn’t mind seeing one of his defencemen put a player through the boards.

Yet Canada’s assistant coach, who runs the group of seven on head coach Steve Spott’s bench, knows that probably won’t happen at the 2013 World Junior Championship.

Tourigny likes his defenders, even taking into consideration they’re not a hit-hard-first, ask-questions-later bunch.

“If we could have a punisher, we would love that, but it’s not a concern,” Tourigny said after practice on Thursday. “I think we have a pretty good mix. I like the way we play defensively, and our guys are good in transition.”